Noodler’s Inks Test 05 – Reds, Oranges, Yellows, Greys and Greens

Here is the last of the swatches of the 79 Noodler’s fountain pen ink samples recently tested.

Reds: This little batch of 13 red swatches was certainly interesting. Unlike the the De Atramentis wine inks that I tested back in August which were only differentiated by the smallest of subtleties, these Noodler’s reds were far more individual. Ranging from cool pinky reds to warm yellow reds with a whole host of different hues, bleed qualities and bleach reactions, they are all lovely. I particularly fell for the Rabaul Red and Noodler’s Fox and I think you can see why. Of note – the fox does bleed a little when writing. For any of you Sheening Geeks, Shah’s Rose, Tiananmen and Noodler’s Red are all displaying some great sheens.

Oranges and Yellows: This little group of 7 maybe small – but talk about diverse! Dragons Napalm is a flat bulletproof orange ink with a great sheen. Habanero bleeds out a gorgeous bright yellow as do the Yellow and Sunrise. Meanwhile the fluorescent Firefly turns a dull grey when subjected to bleach and Year of the Golden Pig…. great name!

Greys, Blues and Greens: This last batch of 12 is the tail end of the 79 tested and arguably the least exciting. Apart from the Hunter Green that creates a strange pattern when added to water the other inks don’t demonstrate anything exceptional. The greens reveal some evidence of blue and yellow hues within their composition and a limited reaction to the bleach. There are far more dynamic alternatives in other ranges.

As I mentioned at the very beginning of the Noodler’s investigation, in my opinion it’s hit and miss with this brand. There are some fantastically visually dramatic inks and some very very limp dull ones. But it’s been great fun testing these Noodler’s purely because you don’t know what you’re going to get. Are Noodler’s the ultimate ink brand? No way! Will I be using some of them again? Definitely!

Nick Stewart

I create art using fountain pen inks and bleach. My techniques epitomise the whole ethos of ‘less is more’ and demonstrate how much one can achieve using very little. It is also a medium that is very much serendipity led and the beauty of the final outcomes are often dictated by this.